On December 11, 2023, TraCe Visiting Fellow Miyerlandy Cabanzo Valencia organized a workshop at PRIF titled “BEYOND ACADEMIA- How we as researchers can successfully engage practice”. The workshop introduced a concept of practice based on the action research paradigm and how to engage different stakeholders and non-academic audience such as policy makers, civil society organizations or affected communities.
The workshop started with each participant sharing reasons and questions for their attendance. Afterwards, Miyerlandy Cabanzo Valencia introduced the action research paradigm in a thematic input in which she shared insights from her own research and activist experience from Colombia and Latin America regarding peacebuilding, environmental rights and antiracism as examples of how to engage practice as a scholar. After a general discussion on how to transform or change realities analyzed through research, the participants were divided in two groups to reflect and create specific recommendations to solve the challenges identified. Migration, racism, LGBTIQ+ rights, energy transition, violence against environmental defenders and colonial violence were some of the topics raised.
The workshop concluded with a feedback session and some literature recommendations to delve deeper into the discussion about practice and academia. The workshop, attended by early career scholars and PhD students, thus provided a platform to exchange knowledge and experience and aimed at bridging the gap between research and practice. “It was a fruitful environment to share ideas and remember that as scholars, researchers and activists, we always have a broader reason to do research and advocacy about the collective and individual concerns we have,” Miyerlandy Cabanzo Valencia summarized.